Machine



UNTTED STATES PATENT QFFTCE.

CHARLES HUTCHINS, OF EAST DOUGLASS, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING AXES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 16,732, dated March 3, 185'?.

To all whom t may concern:

Be itknown that I, CHARLES HUTCHINS, of East Douglass, in the State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theMethod of Making Ax- Ioles in the Manufacture of Axes, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this speciiication, inwhich- Figure l,v is a front elevation of the system of machineryemployed; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Figs. 3, et, and 5, verticalsections taken at the lines A, a, B, o, and C, c, of Fig. l, looking inthe direction of the arrows; Fig. 6, represents the form of the block ofiron from which an ax is to be made; Fig. 7, represents the form givento the block of iron by the first operation; Fig. 8, represents the formto which the block is reduced by the second operation to produce what iscalled a pattern; and Fig. 9, the form to which it is finally reduced bythe third operation and called an ax pole, preparatory to finishing anin the usual way.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

In my improved method of making axes I take a block of iron, Fig. 6, cutof the required weight, length, breadth and thickness, depending on thesize of the intended ax, and when heated subject it to the action of twodies that have a rotary reciprocating motion, to be presently described,which roll the block of iron longitudinally to the form represented byFig. 7, with a thick part ain the middle of the length and projectingfrom one face and which ultimately forms the head of the ax, and withtwo projections b, b, one at each end, and on the opposite face, leavinga cavity o between them, which, when bent, forms the eye of the ax. Thepiece thus prepared is then subjected to two cross rollings between twosegment dies that have a. rotary reciprocating motion to reduce it tothe form represented at Fig. S. This is to make the swell of the cheeks(Z, cl, which must be greater on what is to be the inner edge of the axthan on the outer edge, and hence one cheek must be first rolled in onedirection between the segment dies and then reversed to roll the othercheek that the greatest swell of the two cheeks may be on the same edgeof the piece of iron which is called a patttern in the form to which itis reduced by the several branches of the mode of procedure thus farstated. The pattern in the form last described, is then brought to theform represented at Fig. 9, called an ax pole, by gripping the part a,or central projection of the pattern, between aws and bending the cheeksaround a former until the two projections Z), Z) nearly touch, todetermine the shape of the eye; when discharged from the former the axpole is in a condition to co-mplete the ax in the usual manner.

In Figs. l, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the acccompanying drawings e, c,represent two horizontal parallel rollers mounted in suit-ableadjustable boxes in manner well known and represented. The shafts ofthese rollers pass through the bo-xes, and on one end they carry twosegment cog wheels f, f that mesh into each other so that the rollersshall turn in opposite directions. One of these sector wheels has an armg with a wrist pin connected by a rod L with a crank pin on a spur wheelz' which receives motion froln some first mover by a pinion j on thedriving shaft c. The rotary motion imparted to the wheel i by theconnections described imparts a rotary reciprocating motion to the tworollers e, e. Between the two rollers, and in front of the bightthereof, is placed an adjustable gage 7c the face of which determinesthe position of the block of iron, Fig. 6, in a lateral direction. Andon the surface of the lower roller there is another adjustable gage Zwhich determines the longitudinal position of the block of iron. In theface of the two rollers are fitted dies m, or the face of the rollersmay be made to constitute the dies. And the face of the die in the upperroller has a cavity a to form the project-ion t represented on thepattern, Fig. 7 and each side of this cavity it is cylindrical. And thedie on the lower roller is cylindrical along the part 0 with a. cavityat each end to form the two projections Z), one at each end of thepattern as represented at Fig. 7 These two cavities may extend to anydistance desired on each side, as the length of the block of iron, Fig.6, the length of the cylindrical part of the die, and the position ofthe gage Z determine the proper relations of the two projections Z),

As the rollers by their motion move the dies forward the operativeinserts the block of iron Fig. 6 with one end against the gage Z and oneedge against the side gage 7c, and as the rollers make their back andforward motion the block of iron is rolled to the form of Fig. 7, anddischarged, the rollers remaining nearly at rest as the crank passes thedead point to give the attendant time to insert another block for arepetition of the operation. The pattern thus wrought is thentransferred by the operative to, and introduced between, two segmentdies y), p secured to the outer ends of the shafts of the rollers beforedescribed and moving in unison with them. On the front face of one ofthese two segment dies there are two gages g, g one near each end. Atthe end of the forward motion of these dies the pattern, Fig. 7, isinserted between them by the operative who places one edge of thepattern against the front face of the rear gage, and the projection a ofthe pattern against the edge of the die, and as the dies vibrate backtheir surfaces are so formed as to roll one of the cheeks Z of thepattern thinner toward each edge and thinnest on the edge toward Ytherolling action, which constitutes the inner edge of the ax. At the endof the back vibration the operative turns the pattern end for end andinserts the other cheek between the dies and against the rear face ofthe front gage so that in the return vibration this cheek of the patternis rolled like the first with the thinnest edge in the same direction.

By rolling both cheeks in the same direction and toward that edge whichis to form the inner edge of the ax the swell will be considerablygreater on that side than the other, as required in making axes. Theface of the bottom die is concentric and presents the segment of acylinder where it acts on the cheeks of the pattern, and the face of theupper die at r, i", is cut out sufficiently to receive the projectionsZ), 7), on the ends of the pattern that they may not be touched duringthe cross rolling` on the cheeks, and the face deviates slightly fromthe cylindrical form and sufficiently so in opposite direction from eachgage toward the other to give the required level to the cheeks towardeach edge thereof. The degree .of curvature will depend upon the exactform desired to be given to the cheeks of the axes to be made.

The pattern reduced by the two series of operations above described tothe form represented at Fig. 8, is then transferred'by the operative tothe third branch of the operation and placed on the upper face of aformer s which corresponds with the upper inner surface of the eye ofthe ax when completed, and the head is there gripped by a gripping leverjaw t'. The rear end of this jaw is connected with a treadle c so thatthe operative can grip the head a of the pattern by operating thetreadle with his foot. To a slide frame w working on suitable verticalways :u are jointed two adjustable jaws y, y carrying` on their lowerends two rollers e, z the peripheries of which can be adjusted laterallyby set screws or wedges to the sides of the former and the thickness ofthe cheeks; the upper end of the slide frame w is connected by aconnecting rod a with a crank o on the shaft d by which a reciprocatingmotion is given to the slide frame with its roller jaw sufficient inextent to give the required time for the operative to introduce and gripthe pattern as the crank passes the upper dead point, and as the framesdescend the roller jaws bend down the two cheeks of the pattern on eachside of the former, the sides 0f which are sufliciently cut out toreceive the two projections b, of the pat-tern. As the slide frame risesthe roller jaws liberate the pattern which is then removed from theformer in the shape of an aX pole as represented at Fig. 9, and in acondition to be finished in the usual way.

In the foregoing I have described three machines which are employed inthe successive operations to produce ax poles; but I do not wish to beundertsood as making claim to the mechanical construction of either ofthe said machines, as substantially such machines have been usedseparately for other purposes although under modifications which wouldnot answer the purposes herein specified. Nor do I wish to be understoodas limiting my claim of invention to the use of machines constructedspecifically as herein described as they may be modified in manyrespects without essentially changing the mode of their operation bywhich they are rendered useful in the production of ax poles Vhat I doclaim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- Thepreparation of the bar or block of iron by longitudinal rolling betweenrolling dies operating substantially as herein described, to form with aprojection on one face in the middle of its length, and two projectionson the opposite face, one at each end, substantially as described, incombination with the cross rolling between segment dies under a mode ofoperation substantially such as herein described to reduce the thicknessof the cheeks toward the edges and to form the required swell on theedges of the cheeks, substantially as described and for the purposespecified.

CHARLES HUTCHINS.

V'Titnesses EDWIN Moons, FRANCIS W. HUNT.

